


Gone, and Not Coming Back

by awerewolf



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Ending, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:40:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28187025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awerewolf/pseuds/awerewolf
Summary: V doesn't find a solution fast enough.
Relationships: Goro Takemura/Female V
Comments: 1
Kudos: 77





	Gone, and Not Coming Back

**Author's Note:**

> None Ending with Left Beef

It had been a long time since Goro had heard from V. Weeks. It made something itch under his skin. He knew the circumstances of her condition, that she had limited time to do something about the relic taking over her mind. The last they had spoken; she had gone to meet Hanako at Embers in town. She seemed conflicted, unsure if she should trust Arasaka. He had assured her that she could trust Hanako, and that he could trust her. She was exhausted and said she would sleep on the decision. That was the last they spoke.

He looked at her apartment first. Her door was unlocked. The moment he opened it, a cat bolted between his legs and was lost to the inside of the Megabuilding. As for the apartment itself, it was trashed. Clothes were removed from her closet and thrown all around the floor. The mattress was tossed off her bedframe and across the room. The bathroom was covered in discarded makeup, shampoos, and other items. The mirror was broken, shattered in several places, apparently by a bloodied fist.

Something had gone terribly, terribly wrong. He felt sick.

He visited Heywood next, where she mentioned she had grown up. Every local he asked knew of her, but none knew where she could be found. Mostly he was told to check her apartment. The proprietor of the Coyote Coyo, a “Mama Welles,” seemed just as worried as he was.

“I’m worried.” The woman paced the floor of the empty bar, biting on a fingernail. “She always texts or calls, every weekend. ‘Specially after Jackie passed. She was like a daughter to me.” Welles stopped, running a hand through her hair. “I can’t help thinking—what if some scavs grabbed her, trying to chop her up to get at that stupid chip? Or worse, some perverts looking to make one of those sick virtues…”

“When was the last time you heard from her?” Goro asked. “How did she sound?”

Welles sighed. “Just tired. Talked about how she missed Jackie. I invited her over but she said no, that she just wanted to lay down. That was about three weeks ago.”

“Where did she frequently go, besides her apartment?” He asked. “I need to know where to look.”

Near the top of the list was a bar called “Afterlife,” and that is where he found her.

He wouldn’t have known it was her had he not been scanning every face. Her face was clear of makeup and sporting nasty bruises. She had shorn off her long hair under her ears and did a sloppy dyejob to cover the usual pink. She was leaning against the wall outside, furiously puffing on a cigarette.

“V?”

She looked up. Her eyes were hard. The cigarette nearly dropped out of her mouth at the sight of him. Then she laughed, and didn’t sound like herself.

“Oh shit! It’s you!” She laughed again, loud. “Fucking ‘Saka scum, right outside Afterlife.” Goro blinked in confusion, and she grinned. “I oughta waste you right now, you dumb son of a bitch. I won’t, though. Cause I guess I’m sentimental now, so I’ll let you run off for her sake.”

“V, you are acting very strange.” Goro stepped closer. “Let me take you to see your doc-“

“Shut up.” She threw the cigarette down, smashing it with the end of her shoe. “Don’t you remember what the doctor said? I mean, you were there. Engram taking over her head, overriding her psyche, blah blah… It’s happened. It’s done with.”

Horror filled his gut. “You… You are not V.”

“Christ, took you long enough.” She leaned against the side of the building again. “Got bad for her, real bad. Got to the point where she was having constant seizures, pissing herself… It was sad. Taking over was like putting on another pair of shoes. That easy. I was gonna just grab the reigns for a bit, break into Arasaka Tower, try to save her but…” He grimaced. “The minute I took over I felt her slip away. It happened real fast.”

“You _killed_ her.”

“I didn’t intend to.” Johnny Silverhand crossed his arms. “I liked her. She was an okay kid. I had made peace with the fact that I was dead. My time was over. I wanted her to have a chance.”

“Now she is gone and you’re to blame.” Goro clenched his fists at his sides, feeling his temper rise. “And you are wearing her body like it belongs to you. You have even changed it to suit yourself better.”

“What? Was I supposed to walk around with pink hair and eyeshadow?” Johnny scowled. “For better or worse, she’s gone. I’m in this body now, so I do what I want with it.”

“You’re disgusting. You’re a parasite.”

“Yeah, whatever.” He pushed off against the wall. “I’m suggesting you get lost, though, before I go from being sentimental to temperamental. The only thing that’s stopping me from wasting you right now was the weird little crush she had on you.”

Goro’s handgun was burning a hole in his side. He would not draw it until he was ready to fire, but somehow Johnny saw through him.

“What? You gonna shoot me?” He threw his head back, laughing again. “Normally I wouldn’t put it past you, but I’ve got her face on. I mean you were soft for her. Otherwise, you would’ve just fucked her over and went your own way. You really think you can kill me when I look like this?”

“You are not V anymore.”

Goro reached into his jacket, pulling out his gun. Johnny, despite the new body, had nearly a century of experience and drew his gun quicker. Two bullets tore through him like punches to the chest. Goro gasped, stumbling back.

“Should’ve fucked off when I told you to.” Johnny reached in his pocket, pulling out another cigarette. “Shame. She really did like you.”

Goro leaned against the corner of the opposite building, gasping and struggling to take in air. He clenched at his chest, blood pouring out from between his hands. Blackness creeped in at the back of his mind. He was going to die here.

“Y-You…” Goro slid down the wall, sitting awkwardly. “You dishonor her memory.”

“You were gonna flatline me in an alleyway outside of a bar.” Johnny blew out a mouthful of smoke. “So don’t talk about dishonor. Just sit and die. Maybe you’ll find her wherever people go once they are gone.”

His vision spun and Goro closed his eyes. Maybe he would. He didn’t know.

He heard footsteps approach and a woman’s voice. “Jesus Christ, Johnny! Did you just kill a guy out here?”

“He came looking for V.” Johnny paused a moment. “Well, he found her.”

“This guy’s Arasaka.” The woman groaned. “Fuck, what a mess. He was comin’ to kill her?”

“Nah. This guy’s an Arasaka outcast. V was the only person who gave a fuck about him, so we don’t gotta worry about more of them showing up.”

Goro tilted his head back. He didn’t know much about what came after death. It was something he had often been too busy to think about. He hoped V had truly died and was not trapped within a body she could no longer control. He hoped she was free, at the very least. He took one last strangled breath. But he could only hope.


End file.
